Carlo's Comments

[Bez]

This is on Goal.com and the source apparently is 'Il Giornale'

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed he wants to sign Kaka, but conceeded there is little prospect of that happening because Real Madrid will not sell.

"Kaka would do well for my cause and I have spoken with him on a regular basis," he told Il Giornale.

"But unfortunately he cannot come: firstly Real Madrid don't want to sell him, and secondly we would need a consent over the transfer, and thirdly it would be a multi-million operation. None of these conditions exist."

Reports claimed Zlatan Ibrahimovic had come into view after Ancelotti extended his transfer scope from Madrid to Barcelona.

But the coach kicked that idea into the long grass, insisting there is no plan to sign 'Ibra'. Ancelotti prefers to stick with Didier Drogba as he whips his team into line.

"If you have someone like Drogba who scores 37 goals then why should I look for another [striker]?," he said.

Clubs in England have been moving cautiously on the transfer market with many finding themselves at the sharp end of cuts.

But one club Ancelotti feels will welcome big spending is Manchester City as they continue to pull in the stars.

"They spend plenty and Roberto Mancini is equipping a great squad. Wait and see, they will also sign [Aleksandar] Kolarov and [Edin] Dzeko," said the Ancelotti.

I have highlighted the area of concern -_-. Does Aguero count as a striker?

Edited July 10, 2010 by J.C.B

[Sheva]

Posted this in a Torres thread, think it's quite clear Carlo wants someone creative in who is the same type of player as Kaka. Aguero ain't that player and he is a striker so i think this hopefully clears up all the Aguero/Torres/Pato and other striker rumours.

[Bez]

I'm not going to be concerned about it, i still wouldn't rule out Aguero or Torres completely. I remember Carlo saying Joe was 100% percent going to stay with us :D.

Edited July 10, 2010 by J.C.B

[Ben]

Yeah Carlo said he was staying at AC Milan the day before he joined us if I remember rightly.

[Sheva]

Yeah but he does have a point, Anelka just signed a contract extension and Drogba was scoring for fun last season with Kalou and Sturridge on the bench and Borini coming through so there is no room for another striker so in my opinion he has no reason too be telling porkies.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Sheva

[TheWestwayWonder]

Aguero is not exclusively a striker, and if we were to buy him, I dont think its because we lack goals. We would be getting him to be a game changer, a forward who can (like Drogba) invent something with his skill, but do it from deeper. Aguero gives us an option behind the strikers, as a striker, and as a wide-man.

He might not be that Kaka-type player in that he's mostly an attacking mid, but dont forget in AC Milan's "Christmas Tree" formation Kaka was practically a second forward along with Inzaghi. Not saying we would play like that with him, just that Carlo isnt too dogmatic about using a great attacking talent one certain way.

[Sheva]

I came to the conclusion that Aguero would be dreadful behind the strikers not so long ago, the guy ain't a brilliant passer of the ball compared to players like Sniejder and Kaka who are the type of quality of players we should be after in that role. Also i remember someone on here said in a recent post that they tried Aguero on the wide right for Madrid and it just didn't work. He's a game changer but he's a game changer as a striker and nothing else. I know i seem very negative on Aguero but i'd rather sign people in roles who know how to play in those roles and not spending a silly amount of money on a player just too play him out of position. I'd be over the moon if we signed Aguero and played him next to someone like Drogba because that is where we will get the most out of him and our money.

If we want someone in the style if Kaka, Aguero is very much the opposite and we need a playmaker behind the two strikers not a guy that can dribble and shoot in my opinion. The only exception too this is someone like Messi, but he's on another level because he has everything in his locker.

Ozil for example, i keep seeing more and more of him and his pass accuracy and intelligence on the ball is brilliant and he would be perfect but he's one hell of a lazy bar steward.

I just think why sign Aguero when we can someone in the mold of Kaka to play behind the strikers, why sign Aguero when we can sign someone in the mold of a right winger who may very well be Yossi. If we want a striker which Carlo has ruled out then i'd take Aguero any day of the week but not in other roles which he is not very effective.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Sheva

[Bez]

We can rule Pato out even though those rumors kind of died.

AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato says he will not be joining Chelsea ahead of the new season.

The Brazilian international has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge ever since Carlo Ancelotti left the club to manage the Premier League champions.

Other reports have suggested the front man would make a switch to Barcelona in a player-plus-cash deal for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

But Pato says he wants to see out his contract with the Serie A giants, who he joined in 2007 - meaning he will be staying put for four years at the San Siro.

"My sole aim is to be ready for the restart of training with AC Milan on July 20," said the 20-year-old.

"I have a contract with AC Milan until 2014 and I have every intention of respecting it.

"And in 10 years, I will return to Brazil to end my career at Internacional, the club which belongs to my heart."

Pato began his career at Brazilian outfit Internacional before earning a switch to Rossoneri, who snapped him up for 22million euros (£20m).

[Spiller86]

The first thing I would say in response is to maybe take this with somewhat of a grain of salt, given that Carlo probably doesn't have total control over who we buy. I'd suggest if De Visser and Arnesen make a solid case to Roman you could well see another striker here next season.

Secondly I'd suggest that this means we are most likely in the market for attacking midfielders who play can centrally but more importantly can play on the right hand side. Benayoun is a signing in that area, but as many have commented here over the last couple of months this is probably the weakest area of the team and I'd expect another signing there as well as another couple of midfielders, one attacking and one a bit more Ballack style (more of a distributor with less flair who stays relatively in the same position.)

[Hutch]

this interview has now reached the Daily Mail, who give a slightly different slant on the "we don't need another striker" implications. according to them, this was to said to quash rumours of a link to Ibrahimovic, which is perfectly fine with me:

Ancelotti also played down rumours over a possible move for Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

'If you have someone like Didier Drogba who scores 37 goals then why should I look for another [striker]?,' Ancelotti said.

LINK

[ethicalstrategy]

The player we should be pulling out all the stops to get hold of is Thomas Müller.

He is young. Fast. Scores goals. Can play wide or more centrally. Has proven himself on the big stages with Bayern and Germany. An ideal longterm replacement for Lamps.

[Backbiter]

"If you have someone like Drogba who scores 37 goals then why should I look for another [striker]?," he said.

The tournament has confirmed that there is no striker in the world as good as Drogs.

[TheWestwayWonder]

The player we should be pulling out all the stops to get hold of is Thomas Müller.

He is young. Fast. Scores goals. Can play wide or more centrally. Has proven himself on the big stages with Bayern and Germany. An ideal longterm replacement for Lamps.

I would love to get Müller, but outside of JM Aulas at Lyon, I can think of think of no harder negociators than the three stooges that run the show at Bayern Munich. Look how they played hardball over Hargreaves, and he was not a promising 20 year old.

Unless we were willing to grossly overpay for him, I dont think Müller is going anywhere for many years.

Actually, maybe we could ask them if they still wanted Bosingwa really bad....

Edited July 12, 2010 by TheWestwayWonder

[Ben]

Eden Hazard would be good. & he's from belgium, so unlikely to tire himself out in the future with any world cup malarky.